"Ignorance of the scriptures is ignorance of Christ."
- St. Jerome
Jerome being studious.
As with most things, the Doctor of the Church minced no words when telling others what he thought of scriptural ignorance. For Jerome, the guy who single-handedly re-translated the entire Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin without the internet, biblical literacy was kind of a big thing and it was incumbent upon all believers to familiarize themselves with the holy texts. Its common sense, when you think about it. For Christians, the Bible is an essential component of their knowledge about God. It contains all the confirmed teachings of Christ, the Apostles, Prophets, Sages and Kings. It records salvation history, and is bursting with poetry, myth and all sort of spiritually efficacious materials for the average Homo Sapien. How is it, then, that people, and Catholics in particular, have almost completely lost touch with the scriptures?
Well, that's a complicated question that we don't necessarily have time to delve into within the confines of this blog. What we do have time for, however, is solutions to this problem.
1. Get a good Bible: Unfortunately, while most homes in America have a Bible, its usually some expired, unintelligible edition of the King James which sits on a shelf gathering dust. The Bible, unfortunately, is not an integral part of people's lives. A Christian's Bible should be ragged, worn down and dog-eared from merciless, daily use. Its pages should be stuffed with sacred family mementos, highlights and personal notes. It should also be understandable. For all its historical and aesthetic value, the King James version is not a scripture fit for men of the 21st century, unless these men happen to be fluent in 17th century English. Aside from that, its missing books. Every Christian should find a version of the Bible (Catholic, of course) that is both easy to understand and faithful to the original languages.
2. Set aside time to read it: Its crucial that we make the Bible a normal part of our lives, and a crucial component of doing that is actively setting aside time every day to contemplate its message. Personally, I like to get up just before dawn and immediately start reading after my prayers. You'll find that your mind is more relaxed and that the quiet of the early morning is the perfect time for contemplation. It also helps to put everything in perspective. Make sure to supplement the particular verses your reading with musings on the same by Saints, popes and other Christians who have something informative to say about them. We're not Protestants. We don't read the scripture in a vacuum, as though we're the only ones we need to reference. We read scripture as a family. Just as you might ask a parent about something, so to we should unabashedly run to the Saints to inform us on one thing or another.
3. Let it influence you: Someone, though I can't remember who, once said that the Gospel is like a wild animal, and that if we simply let it lose it will conquer everything. I buy that. I think that if we take the Bible, properly interpreted of course, and simply let it be itself and actually have a say in our lives, the world would be a very different, and better, place. So, crack open that old King James on the shelf and start making notes. Its a start, anyway. Who knows? You might just light the world on fire.
3. Let it influence you: Someone, though I can't remember who, once said that the Gospel is like a wild animal, and that if we simply let it lose it will conquer everything. I buy that. I think that if we take the Bible, properly interpreted of course, and simply let it be itself and actually have a say in our lives, the world would be a very different, and better, place. So, crack open that old King James on the shelf and start making notes. Its a start, anyway. Who knows? You might just light the world on fire.
Someone who took the Bible seriously.
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